Scale



E. INGLE.

SCALE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2|, i919.

15,356,987. y Patented OCI. 26,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT A.erft-I c'ie.. 7

ELIZA INGLE, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

` SCALE,

Specification of Letters Patenti Patented Oct'. 26, y1920.

-Applcaton 'filed March 21, 1919. Serial No. 284,021.

To all whom t may concern:

Y Be it known thatv I, ELIZA I NGLE, a citizen of the United VStates of America, residing in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland,

have invented certain new and-useful Imreading is inconvenient or impossible.

In its preferred form kthe scale consists of a bar or rod or other convenient member having an exposed edge marked with notches or lines perceptible to the touch and regularly spaced by the chosen unit of measurement. Parallel to this'edge is a groove, the

edge of the groove remote from the firstmentioned edge being divided by similar notches or depressions spaced by units which are 4convenient fractions of the spaces separating the first set of markings or notches, and spaced from this groove preferably by asimilarymargin is a second.

groove beyond which isstillanother set` of notches or fgraduations evenly spaced by fractions of the units inthe next preceding scale. This arrangement may be continued until the desired minimum fractional unit of measurement is attained. In measuring, the finger is runalong the edge until the desired number of the larger units is counted, then along the first groove tothe desired number of the larger fractions, etc. y

As the commonest use of this scale up to the. present point of its development has been in connection with a cutting-board in the bookbinding art, it has been illustrated as applied to such a cutting-board having the usual guillotine knife, though it is capable of various applications.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a scale embodying my invention. In the drawingy Figure 1 is a perspective of the scale applied to a cutting-board. 1

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the scale in perspective including a marker or abutment for use in cases where repeated measurements of the same extent are to be made,

The scale has been shown in .i as Withthe cutting-board where afnumber of piecesof the same size are to be cut.

' Iuge 4is anj end view of the scale with the abutment. i f

Referring tothe drawings by numerals, I

vrhave illustrated a'triangular scale 1 having arrangedfalong the-top edge l notches or markings or graduations 2 of va nature to be Vdetected by theftouch, the same'being spaced one' inch apart and preferably designated by raised points or dots 3 arranged according to an accepted and well-known numerical system or cipher taught in institutlons for the blind. Spaced from the edge l by a suitable interval which may be ,aboiit a quarter of an inch and parallel to the edge yis a groove 5. In the present instance the markings or graduations 2 extend across the space 6 between the edge and the groove, and f terminate at eachend in notches? conveniently detected and located by .runningthe finger nail alongy either edge 4 or 8. Be-

yond the groove 5 andparallel thereto is still another groove 9, the spacing being preferably similar to that between the edge 1- and the groove 5. Any desired number of grooves may-be used, the last groove being lpreferably spaced by a similar interval 10 from` the lower edge `l1 of the graduated rface of the'scale. The interval or spacey 12 between the grooves 5 and 9' is marked with graduations 13 similar-to the graduations 2 and likewise terminating at each yend in notches 7 inthe respective edges of thetwo grooves. These graduations or markings are spaced by rconvenient 'fractions of these units relating to the graduatins on .the

upper edge. In this instance the markings are one-half an inch apart, and the flatV surf face between the lower groove 9 and the bottom edge of theface of the scale 11 is graduated in still smaller fractionsof an inch. In this instance these markings are an eighth of an inch apart and terminate adjacent the groove in notches 7 formed in the edge of the groove. For convenience in distinguishing the smaller graduations, I have'shown the markings as terminating in notches in every second graduation, only, that is the quarter inches aremarked with notches and. the intervening eighth inch spaces are marked with cuts 14; having no notch. This detail is, of course, not essential.

Fig. 1 inconnection with a cutting-beard l5 and a guillotine cutting knife 16. In Fig. 2 the cuttingboard is shown in edge or side elevation, and means for fastening the scale to the cuttingboard in the form ofV a screw 17 is also shown. In Figs. 3 and 4f I have shown a sliding abutment or marker 18 held in position by a removable pin 19 engaging holes 2O spaced by a distance corresponding to the smallest unit to which the scale graduated.

In reading the scale the linger is run along the top edge 1 or the surface 6 intervening between the top edge and the top groove until the graduation marking the desired number of inches is reached and located. 'With the finger nail on this graduation, thefinger is passed down to the first groove and moved along until the nail encounters the half-inch mark provided a fractional measurement of over a half-inch is desired. When the half-inch mark intended is located, with the nail in this mark the finger is passed to the next groove if the measurement is to be in units of an eighth of an inch and the desired number of eighths is measured, the Contact of the nail with the notches `at the bottom edge of the groove 9 serving as an index for counting these notches. When the desired number of eighths has been counted, the reading of the scale is complete. If a piece of paper or card-board of this dimension is to be cut, an edge of the card-board is laid on the cutting-board in contact with the lower edge of the scale, the corner being in engagement with the finger nail which is in the notch indicating the desired measurement. If the card-board is large enough, the edge to be cut will overlap the edge'of the cutting-board and by a stroke of the vguillotine knife the card-board is cut to the against this abutment and the lower edge of the face of the scale which is beveled at vention to the details thus described.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A scale having an elongated measuring surface provided with graduations thereon consisting of transverse notches` crossing said surface and spaced by the desired units of measurement, the scale having a groove bordering said surface and a similar surface on the opposite side of the groove, said second surface being provided with graduations consisting of transverse notches in said surfaces and spaced by fractions of the said unit the two series of graduations being so related that the notches indicating corresponding points in the two series are directly in alinement.

2. A scale having an elongated measuring surface, graduations thereon consisting of transverse notches crossing said surface and spaced by the desired units of measurement, the scale having a groove bordering said surface and a similar surface on the opposite side of the groove, graduations on said second surface consisting of transverse notches crossing said surface and spaced by even fractions of the said unit the two series of graduations being so related that the notches indicating corresponding points in the two series are directly in alinement, and markings notable by touch distinguishing the various graduations.

Signed by meat Baltimore, Maryland, 90

this 18th day of March, 1919.

ELIZA INGLE. Witnesses:

WM. INGLE, JAMns F. JOHNSON. 

